Unconscious bias workshop at MPI-M

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) held a workshop about prejudices, stereotypes and finding strategies to circumvent them on November 5th,2018. Unconscious bias — what is that? In our everyday work we all encounter situations where we judge others — whether it is by the quality of their work, in job interviews, or in letters of recommendation. In all these actions we rely on unconscious thinking patterns and stereotypes, even if we do not want to. We use these mental shortcuts (or “unconscious biases”) to reduce the complexity of daily life; nevertheless, they stand in the way of us seeing the full picture. .

Unconscious biases lead to the fact that we tend to like people better when they share similar beliefs and at the same time are reluctant towards those that don`t. We also use mental shortcuts to complete missing information on colleagues and team members. This can reduce diversity within the Institute, because it is directly linked to who will get the job, get the promotion or is up for the next career level. It can also keep us from working together with the colleagues that are most suited for our problem.